Sticks, Stones
by hazyplanet
Summary: It's Lily and James' sixth year, and they're just trying to get along. Rated T for swearing and some kisses.


**Hey everyone, this is my new fanfiction! I don't exactly have a plan for this but I think I know kind of where it's going... yeah anyway please read and review! There may be some inconsistancies as I wrote this first chapter over the span of like a week.**

 **DISCLAIMER: anything you recognise belongs to j.k. rowling. I can't come up with a witty disclaimer thing so this is what you get.**

 **August 29, 1976**

Lily Evan's first sight upon waking up was a mass of dark red. With a groan, she slowly sat up and brushed the numerous strands of crimson hair out of her face. For what seemed to be the fiftieth time, Lily cursed herself for trying to be more impulsive and getting bangs. They looked alright, she supposed. But she rather missed her hair the way it had been.

Checking the clock (9:55 am), Lily decided she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, and she was fairly hungry as well. She rose from bed, leaving behind tangled white sheets and a blanket patterned with water lilies (a present from Marlene the previous year, who seemed to think it was funny. In fact she had been cracking herself up for hours after gifting it to Lily, who was decidedly unamused).

Lily slipped on a baby pink robe and headed down the hall. As usual, as Lily was just waking, Petunia had already eaten, done a load of dishes and started the laundry. Lily had only just caught a glimpse of thin blonde hair when her sister closed the door to her room, leaving Lily alone in the sunlit kitchen. _That girl really knows how to disappear_ , Lily thought wryly to herself as she set to making breakfast.

After a quick meal of charred eggs and toast (Lily was admittedly not the best chef), the teen got dressed and headed out of the house, Walkman in hand. After the Great Pancake Incident of '70, Lily's mother Andrea had declared that whoever used up food had to go to the market and replace it. Although that had been back when Petunia actually spoke to her. Lily rolled her eyes, though she was alone and unlikely to be applauded for her latest act of teenage cliche.

The Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated" on blast, Surrey's token redhead walked briskly through the town, head bopping to the beat. Lily closed her eyes and felt pleasantly warm sunshine on her face. Today was going to be a goo-

"Oof-"

"Shit!" Lily swore. She had been barreled over by someone who seemed to be in quite a rush, not noticing her in his path.

Lily looked up furiously at whoever had interrupted her pleasant morning, ready to chew them out and live up to her "fiery redhead" status, when -

"Plurp", said Severus Snape, and promptly dashed away.

Lily stood there for several seconds, in stunned silence. _Plurp?_

* * *

"You're going down, Potter!" A sharp grin appeared on Sirius Black's boyish features, as he hit a bludger straight towards a messy haired boy on a broomstick.

"Fucker!" The aforementioned Potter shot back, narrowly dodging the flying ball.

"Oh, fantastic comeback there, you're really stepping up your game!" Sirius laughed.

"Hey, cut me some slack," James smirked. He pulled his broom to the ground in one smooth motion. "It's hard to banter when you're 50 feet in the air!"

"You manage pretty well against Florence Thomas in _official matches_ ," Sirius countered, flying down to earth next to James.

"Florence Thomas is a lot fitter than you, Pads," James hopped off of his broom and continued into the house.

"Impossible!" the other teen laughed, leading the way into the kitchen and popping the top off of a can of Cola them, Remus and Peter had bought (with Muggle money!) in the closest muggle village.

It had been an impressive voyage, James remembered fondly. Unable to do magic over the summer, they had looked through Sirius' collection of Muggle coins and came up with enough money for a whole box of the Muggle drink. Of course, they had needed some help from Remus to actually count out the money….and the man at the counter had looked at Peter like he was loony when all he had asked was how the cash register worked!

James smiled at the memory. School started up again in two days, and they would finally be able to use magic. Two months without being able to turn into a majestic animal when he had _just_ learned to control his animagus form, too!

But this year, he had it all under control. He had finally gotten quidditch captain after Longbottom graduated last year, he was with his best friends year round, and he was finally on good terms with...well. Not exactly good terms. But he thought they were getting on the right track at least.

Sixth year was going to be brilliant, James decided.

* * *

Sixth year was going to be _awful,_ Lily thought as she plopped down on her bed. Without Sev as a friend (though he had _definitely_ brought that upon himself), and especially if he was going to be acting like he had earlier that day, she was left with quite few friends. The girls in her dorm were alright, she supposed, but she had never been exactly close with them. Sev had been the only one she was really friends with, and now he was...what? Her...enemy? Ex friend?

Although she was surprised she hadn't run into him sooner. He lived practically next door to her house. Perhaps he had been avoiding her. _As he should,_ Lily thought a bit sadly. He had chosen his path, she had chosen hers. And she had no one to talk to about it.

 _You know who you want to talk to..._ a snide little voice in Lily's head whispered.

"I can't," Lily whispered under her breath angrily.

A beat.

"FUCK!" Lily swore, and immediately regretted it. Thankfully, no one was at home.

 _If a girl commits a meaningless act of rebellion in an empty house did she really commit a meaningless act of rebellion?_ Lily chuckled to herself. Potter would have laughed at that.

* * *

 **September 1, 1976**

"You boys have a good year, alright?" Anjali Potter waved off James and Sirius with a quick kiss on the cheek to Sirius and a bear hug for James, which he highly protested against.

"Mum, I have a reputation to uphold-" James was only half joking as he fended off his mother.

She let him go, amber eyes smiling. "Well, goodbye dears. Sirius, I'll see you in a few months for Christmas." She paused. "James, you can come too, I suppose."

James spluttered out a "But-" as Ms. Potter winked at him. With a crack, the witch disapparated from the platform.

Sirius roared with laughter. "I love your mum, I really do."

"Shove off, mate. Maybe next time you can-" But James was cut off from his insult by the sight of a certain redhead. She looked basically the same, he told himself. There was no reason he should be staring at her right now.

 _Had her hair always been that way?_

Lily Evans caught him staring at her, and lifted a hand in a wave. A beat too late, he waved back, attempting his Dashing Quidditch Player grin. He thought he saw her stifle a chuckle into her hand, and then she was gone, dissolved into the bustling crowd.

 _Was her smile that pretty last year?_

* * *

James Potter was an idiot, thought Lily as she wandered onto the Hogwarts Express. Yet she couldn't keep the smile off of her face. _Stupid face, stop smiling._

She must look like a complete-

"Lily!" interrupted Marlene Mckinnon, eyes shining brightly. "Oh, it's so good to see you again! Here, come sit with us!"

Lily couldn't quite disguise the shock from her face as the other girl gave her a quick squeeze and led her down the hall of the train.

As they walked, Marlene whispered, "Severus Snape was following you. I figured you wouldn't really want to talk to him based on...last year,"the other girl said with a swish of her ashy blonde hair.

"Oh! Well, thank you," Lily said, grateful Marlene had stepped in. She knew that wouldn't have been a pleasant conversation. Feeling a bit awkward, Lily parted awkwardly from Marlene, whose disappointment showed clearly on her pretty face. Lily felt a pang of guilt walking away. Apparently Marlene had actually wanted to sit with her.

 _Oh well,_ Lily thought, sliding into an empty compartment. _I guess I'm the accidental bitch this year._

* * *

"Oi, Peter!" James called to his slightly shorter friend. "Come 'ere, we're gonna miss the train!"

James saw Sirius stifle a laugh as their friend struggled to make his way over to them through the bustling crowd. But even James couldn't stop himself from letting out a loud laugh when Peter nearly got bowled over by a large owl cage.

"That thing could have killed me, you know!" Peter said jokingly when he finally got to them. "It's a very serious matter."

This sent them into another fit of laughter. Everything was funnier around his friends, James thought.

"Oi, where's Moony?" Sirius asked the others, disappointment on his face. "I was really looking forward to busting his ass for not owling me back nearly all summer!"

"He didn't owl me back either," Peter said thoughtfully. "Maybe he's turned into a wolf for good and rna away from home!"

"Don't be an idiot, Pete."

"Turned permanently into a wolf? Seriously?"

Peter blushed. "Look, it's two to eleven. We better find a compartment."

"Yeah, I guess we'll see Remus on the train," James said, "I mean, it's not like he's going to miss the train."

The trio walked into the train, searching for an empty compartment.

"Hey guys," Remus said, from behind them.

James nearly jumped out of his skin when their friend popped up behind them. Getting over his initial surprise, James immediately set into Investigation Mode. Remus looked…tired. More tired than usual. There was a yellowish tint to his skin, and dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he might break into pieces at any moment.

"Hey Moony!" Peter said, pushing between the other two. "Where've you been? We waited for ages."

Remus let out a forced smile. "Oh, my dad was just a bit late driving me here."

James shared a look with Sirius.

"You okay?" Sirius asked Remus. Concern was clear as day on his good looking face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Remus shifted to the side. "The full moon just puts a strain on me."

The others nodded in understanding.

"Let's get a compartment," James suggested. As they walked down the corridors, a little voice was nagging at him. _Wasn't the full moon three weeks ago?_

* * *

When they finally found an empty compartment (well, not exactly "empty", per say. Sirius had had to scare out a gaggle of first year boys who had claimed the compartment for their own), James immediately spread his long frame across a whole side, and was met with boos from his friends.

"Taking up a whole side, shameful," Sirius chided.

"Yes, quite shameful," Peter said in a nasally voice.

James reluctantly lifted his legs off the seat. "What the fuck was that voice though?"

"It was spiffy," Peter decided, plopping down next to Remus. The latter, who had been quiet thus far, let out a weak snort.

"Listen, mates," James started seriously. "This year is going to be the best one ever. We-"

"Better than second year?" Sirius interrupted in a mock serious voice.

James didn't pick up on the sarcasm. "YES. Even better than second year. Now listen-

"What about third?"

"Shut up."

"Not _fourth_? I lost my virginity that year!"

"Fuck _off_ Pads!"

* * *

 _His walk, like a majestic stag. His body, tan and muscular. His jawline, cut like glass. Aurora caught herself watching Phillip's rippling muscles under his shirt as he looked at her and winked. The girl flushed, her breasts heaving-_

Ugh, these muggle romance novels were awful, Lily thought, closing the paperback with disgust. There were only so many "heaving breasts" a girl could take.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Lily froze. Without looking up, she replied sarcastically, "No, come on in."

James sat down across from her with a loud outtake of breath. "Don't you want to know why I'm not with the Marauders?"

Lily looked up. "First of all, the fact that you _named_ your friend group is the most ridiculous thing ever, and I stand by that. Second of all, no. Just because we're" She put up air quotes, "'getting along now', doesn't mean that I want you to barge into my compartment and interrupt my-

"What _is_ this book?" James asked, holding the novel in one hand, a perplexed expression on his face.

Lily reddened. "Give that back, P-James." She resisted the urge to jump out of her seat and grab the trashy romance novel.

James started to read aloud, holding the book up away from Lily so she couldn't reach it. "His bulging muscles were almost too much for her to handle, she felt herself getting dizzy. She felt herself about to fall to the ground when a pair of muscular arms wrapped round her miniscule waist, catching her heaving-Holy shit, Evans, are you reading porn?!" James' face lit up with laughter.

Lily's freckled face turned a bright shade of scarlet. "No!"

And suddenly they were laughing.

* * *

"Wait, so why are you even in my compartment?" Lily asked. They had settled down and relaxed, and were currently snacking on Pumpkin Pasties from the trolley.

James was comfortably spread out over one whole side of the compartment, and Lily couldn't help but notice how perfectly the silvery color of the seats complimented his golden brown skin.

 _Stop noticing how hot he is,_ she chided herself.

"I was betrayed," James answered her question with an air of great importance. "They _kicked me out_ of the compartment, and I was left to wander, friendless, alone…." he trailed off dramatically, staring into the distance.

"So basically, you were being annoying, and your friends booed you out," Lily summarized.

"Basically." James opened a chocolate frog. "So what's with you, Evans? Why were you sitting alone reading porn?"

Lily started to laugh and caught herself. "I wasn't-whatever. I just...felt like being alone. And I'm not great friends with any of the girls in my year." _That was_ such _an overshare, way to go._ Lily cringed inwardly. They were just now becoming-well, something like friends-and now she had to make him feel sorry for her? He probably thought she was a companionless loser.

"But you have such a charming personality!" James said, grinning at her.

"Wow, thanks," Lily said sarcastically. She was unsure whether he was making fun of her or not, but she wasn't really going to take the chance that he was, and act like he hadn't. _Wow, that sentence didn't even make sense in my head._

He just smiled at her mysteriously (which became even more infuriating because of his undeniable attractiveness).

* * *

"Oi, I'd like, er….three licorice wands and six packs o' Bertie Bott's, thanks," Sirius flagged down the trolley witch, finally catching up to her. He had been chasing after the damned witch for what seemed like forever. She moved _fast._

Thanking the witch and paying for his items, Sirius strode back down the corridor when an interesting sight caught his eye: Lily Evans and James Potter, alone in a compartment, _laughing together._

James' hazel eyes were gleaming, staring at Evans. It was almost embarrassing how much he was drooling, thought Sirius.

The teen grinned, canines gleaming. They had been wondering where James had gone for so long. Man, he couldn't wait to fuck with James about this.

 **A/N: So that was the first chapter! updates should be coming in fairly frequently, but don't expect them all to be 2k words haha. Please leave a review, it really motivates me to keep going writing!**


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